Watch Replay: UNEs, Resale and the USTelecom Petition: The Coming Battle Over Local Competition

Since the 1996 Telecom Act became law, there were three FCC-approved ways for carriers to enter the local service market and compete with the ILECs. Competitors have always been able to enter the local market using 100 percent of their own facilities. That will not change.

Numerous carriers lacking the resources to build or extend their own networks into each new local market traditionally have purchased ILEC network facilities at cost to add onto or even replace their own networks. However, if the ILEC association USTelcom has its way, ILEC competitors will no longer have the opportunity to purchase these ILEC network facilities on a cost basis. Specifically, USTelecom has filed a Petition for Forbearance with the FCC, claiming that competition is so intense, ILECs should no longer be required to:

• Make unbundled network elements including unbundled loops available to competitors at long-run incremental costs, and;
• Make total-service resold services available to competitors on an avoided cost basis.

While the FCC evaluates the merits of the USTelecom Petition this summer, please Join CCMI on July 10, 2018 at 2:00 for an information-packed webinar in which we will discuss:

• Whether the FCC is likely to approve this Petition, and:
• The competitive impact on CLECs and enterprises on the potential loss of UNEs and total-service resale at cost, including:
• Whether any UNEs or resold services would still be available and at what prices;
• What remaining options CLECs would have to compete with ILECs in the local phone market, and;
• How the FCC's decision would impact Interconnection Agreement negotiations.

The FCC's decision on the USTelecom Petition is the most significant financial issue the FCC will make for many carriers in 2018, therefore, it is important that you know the details and what the outcome is likely to be. The CCMI webinar is the only place to get this important information.